First
Heroin Kingpin Ever Extradicted From Afghanistan Pleads Guilty To
Smuggling Heroin Into United States

Narco-terrorist,
Baz Mohammad being taken away by DEA Agents

JUL
11--JOHN
P. GILBRIDE, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Drug Enforcement
Administration (the “DEA”) in New York and MICHAEL J.
GARCIA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New
York announced that BAZ MOHAMMAD, the first Afghan heroin kingpin
ever extradited from Afghanistan, pleaded guilty this afternoon in
Manhattan federal court to conspiracy to import heroin into the United
States. President George W. Bush previously designated BAZ MOHAMMAD
as a foreign narcotics kingpin under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin
Designation Act, which authorizes the President of the United States
to make such designations when he determines that a foreign narcotics
trafficker presents a threat to the national security, foreign policy,
or economy of the United States. Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai
authorized the extradition of BAZ MOHAMMAD to the United States in
October 2005.

"The arrest,
extradition, and guilty plea of BAZ MOHAMMAD are a victory for law
enforcement in the United States and Afghanistan,” GILBRIDE said. “The
DEA is vigilant about identifying those at the highest level of drug
distribution in order to disrupt and dismantle their drug organizations
from furthering the drug trade into the United States. Justice has
been served."

According to an
indictment previously unsealed in Manhattan federal court, since 1990,
BAZ MOHAMMAD led an international heroin-trafficking organization (the “Organization”)
responsible for manufacturing and distributing millions of dollars
worth of heroin in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Organization then
arranged for the heroin to be transported from Afghanistan and Pakistan
into the United States, including New York City, hidden inside suitcases,
clothing, and containers. Once the heroin arrived in the United States,
other members of the Organization received the heroin and distributed
the drugs. These coconspirators then arranged for millions of dollars
in heroin proceeds to be laundered back to BAZ MOHAMMAD and other members
of the Organization in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

According to the
indictment, the Organization was closely aligned with the Taliban in
Afghanistan. During the course of the conspiracy, the Organization
provided financial support to the Taliban. More specifically, between
1994 and 2000, the Organization collected heroin proceeds in the United
States for the Taliban in Afghanistan. In exchange for financial support,
the Taliban provided the Organization protection for its opium crops,
heroin laboratories, drug-transportation routes, and members and associates.

According to the
indictment, in or about 1990, BAZ MOHAMMAD discussed heroin trafficking
with other members of the Organization in his Karachi, Pakistan residence.
During the meeting, BAZ MOHAMMAD told his co-conspirators that selling
heroin in the United States was a “Jihad” because they
were taking the Americans’ money and the heroin was killing them.

As discussed above,
on June 1, 2005, President Bush designated MOHAMMAD as a foreign narcotics
kingpin pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (the “Kingpin
Act”), which targets, on a worldwide basis, significant foreign
narcotics traffickers, their organizations, and their operatives. BAZ
MOHAMMAD and BASHIR NOORZAI, who was arrested by the DEA in April 2005
and is also being prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s
Office for the Southern District of New York on heroin-importation
charges, are the only Afghan narcotics traffickers to ever have been
sanctioned by the President of the United States under the Kingpin
Act.

Mr. GARCIA stated: “Today’s
guilty plea is a triumph for the international rule of law, the emerging
democracy in Afghanistan, and the people of the United States. The
U.S. Government will continue to work with its international partners
to pursue narco-terrorists, no matter how powerful they may appear.”

Based on his guilty
plea today, BAZ MOHAMMAD faces a maximum sentence of life in prison
and a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison.

The prosecution
of BAZ MOHAMMAD is being handled by the Office’s International
Narcotics Trafficking Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys BOYD
M. JOHNSON III, AMY FINZI, and JOCELYN STRAUBER are in charge of the
prosecution.